No Pain, No Gain

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This is going to hurt...I know if my legs are starting to ache now, only an hour after my first session, tomorrow is going to be really bad!
It was of course my first personal training session, with the very bouncy Sharon, from the BFFA team, in Bromsgrove. I had been feeling like my daily routine of gym sessions were getting mundane, and whilst they provide good thinking time, I still wasn't really switching off from Ochre & Ocre. So I bit the bullet and booked in with Sharon. Although they are essentially Martial Arts instructors, a lot of the techniques and moves can be used to improve your general fitness, posture etc, without the need for bruise inducing combat. Sharon is the better half of Andy Hopwood, a name you might well be hearing more of on your tv screens soon, I will keep you posted. Sharon as well as teaching at BFFA in Bromsgrove, has written childrens books, and is looking for a literary agent for her adult book, so another name to watch out for!
However, that doesn't mean I won't be tempted to practice a few moves on my other half - after all it was whilst I was practicing my Jiu Jitsu on my housemates at Uni, that we got together.
You certainly have to concentrate - and at least for one hour the world of Ochre & Ocre seemed far away! And its great fun learning to throw proper punches and kick.
It's now back to reality, and the day job. The beekeeper dropped off the new terracotta pots filled with beeswax yesterday, so I just need the right light to try to get some pics done. The hand wash and hand lotion are ready and waiting for their labels - I finally found a great supplier called Borble, who can do a really nice laminated label that will be waterproof.
I just now need to see if I can move from this chair - but it is very comfy....maybe I'll just stay here a bit!

Mini hand lotion production line

Image via Wikipedia

The last 2 days have been spent filling bottles with the honey hand wash and hand lotion. We quickly learnt that a funnel was needed, when on the first pour the hand lotion overflowed, and that it can get quite slippy if you spill any hand wash. But I did find that they both smell really fresh and zingy, and the smell lingers afterwards.
There will be a delay before they can go on sale, as we are having label issues - namely the super polyester waterproof labels that are supposedly suitable for Ink jet printers, actually melt in the machine, and jam up the printer. Therefore we are having to go further afield than our local printer, and are struggling to find someone who can print onto them.
The company we bought the labels from were very unhelpful, and basically didn't want to know about it - so we may have ended up with two boxes of polyester labels that we can't use.
Some good news is that the whole PCI DSS mystery seems to be getting resolved. It is a new compliance scheme that all retail websites must pass by September, but the information is written by computer geeks. Fortunately, once again Philippe and his team at Blue Earth Solutions were able to help, so fingers crossed we pass the IP scan tomorrow.

Lunch At Baileys

Today was one of those days where it felt great to be self employed, as I got to meet Nicky, from Wales at Home for lunch at Baileys. For those of you who don't know Baileys, I would thoroughly recommend a visit. They are based just outside Ross On Wye, and have the most wonderful eclectic collection of home and garden "things!". From beautiful kitchen pots and dishes, vintage lights, and some very lovely galvanised kitchen stools, that I love, but don't have anywhere to put, it is a real home emporium. I managed to get away with buying two candles and some pencils - but I could easily have spent more.
It was also lovely to catch up with Nicky, as we "chat" by email a lot, but seldom meet up. Nicky wears many hats, from interior stylist, to journalist, as well as being the owner of the very stylish Wales At Home website. She also guest blogs on a number of other sites including My Deco. The ironic thing is that although we are both self employed, we rarely get the chance to go out for lunch, so it felt like a real treat.

Lavender

Today we have been photographing our latest addition to the Ochre & Ocre range; Wedding Favours. Cute little terracotta pots filled with baby lavender plants. They make a great eco friendly wedding favour, as well as all the symbolism that goes with lavender. (In the language of flowers, lavender stands for love, devotion and loyalty).
We set up in Lavender Lady Kim's lovely garden, whilst ominous black clouds gathered. Luckily we managed to avoid the worst of the weather, and got some nice pics, in a pretty setting. Kim's chocolate labrador was unsuccessful in eating the props - but did do several fly pasts to see what he could snuffle!
We even managed to enjoy a quick lunch outside, and tucked into Kim's lovely Lavender sponge.
Keep an eye out on our website for our latest addition.

More Press Coverage

Our cut flowers are certainly getting lots of attention, as they have now appeared on the Wales At Home website, under the coolly titled article, "Eco Flower Power". Those of you who haven't yet signed up for the sites weekly newsletter are missing out, as not only are there lots of great articles on interior design, you can also get special offers and discounts on lots of high street and more exclusive interior Homeware stores.
The Sheerluxe conference was really interesting, and I met some other lovely online retailers, so it was great to swap stories and pick up tips. The only problem is I came away with so many ideas, its hard to know what to do first.
Those of you wondering how Paul got on with his BFFA Dan grading, will be pleased to hear he passed, but I am even more pleased as it means we can now get on with finishing the house! We are going to look round two properties tomorrow, which look interesting, so I will keep you posted.

Sheer Luxe Conference

I am very excited to be attending the SheerLuxe conference this week, in Fulham. Titled "Gearing up for Christmas", it is aimed at online businesses, and covers a wide range of topics from some top industry pundits. I'm hoping to pick up some tips, as well as do some essential networking. There is a really interesting mix of people attending, from fashion companies, to homewares and food.

We have had more press coverage this month for our Cut Flower Bouquets. In the Western Mail Home section, our bouquets were recommended by Design Guru, Nicola Wilkes, as the answer to eco friendly and stylish flowers. Nicola runs a great interiors website, with large and small companies, as well as design advice, and news on the latest trends. go to www.WalesAtHome.co.uk to see more.
We have also been selected as Editors choice in the Gloucestershire Preview, summer edition, for our handcrafted wooden napkin rings.

I've had a preview of our house pictures, that David Giles took a few weeks ago, and they look fantastic. Our house looks so big and light, fingers crossed a magazine is interested. I also managed to get a few tips off David regarding photography, which I will put to the test next week, when, hopefully weather permitting I will be doing some wedding pictures in Kim's garden. Kim has a gorgeous garden, as you would expect from someone who sells lavender plants for a living. Check out her website, she has over 60 different varieties of lavender!

Press Coverage for Ochre & Ocre

Image by pixelized via Flickr

It is great that our new additions to the Ochre & Ocre range are getting some press coverage:
our lovely British cut flowers have made the press again this week - this time in the fun online magazine Daisy Green. Our Handcrafted Gifts range is also featured in this months Gloucestershire Preview.

No shows this weekend - but Paul has his Dan grading on Sunday, with the BFFA, (British Free Fighting Association), so we will be holding our breath until that is over!
I have threatened to turn up with Gert dressed as a cheerleader, but he was not very impressed - I don't know why, I thought she would look very cute in a ra ra skirt!